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Red Faction: Guerrilla
File:143454 packshot l.jpg
Developer(s) Volition, Inc.
Reactor Zero (PC)[1]
Publisher(s) THQ
Designer
Engine Geo-Mod 2.0 with Havok (Physics Engine)[2]
status Status Missing
Release date PlayStation 3, Xbox 360

June 2, 2009 (NA)
June 5, 2009 (EU)
Microsoft Windows
September 15, 2009 (NA)
September 18, 2009 (EU)

Genre Third-person shooter, Sandbox
Mode(s) Single-player, Multiplayer
Age rating(s) ESRB: M
PEGI: 16+
Platform(s) Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Microsoft Windows
Arcade system Arcade System Missing
Media Blu-ray Disc, DVD, Download
Input Keyboard and mouse, Gamepad
Requirements Requirements Missing
Credits | Soundtrack | Codes | Walkthrough

Red Faction: Guerrilla is a third-person shooter video game developed by Volition, Inc. and published by THQ. It was released on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in June 2009 in North America and Europe. A Microsoft Windows version, ported by Reactor Zero, was released on September 15, 2009.[3] The game is the third installment in the Red Faction series.

Gameplay

In Red Faction: Guerrilla, the player takes the role of Alec Mason as he assists the left wing Red Faction to disrupt and overthrow the Earth Defense Force (EDF) on Mars. This is presented to the player in a third person perspective, a departure from the series' previous two games which were first person shooters. Developer Volition changed the camera perspective to help the player see and appreciate the surroundings as they are destroyed.[4] Much of the game centers around the game's Geomod 2.0 engine, which allows for buildings, cover, and other structures to be dynamically destroyed. In many cases, destroying buildings will leave behind salvage, the game's form of currency, which can be used along with salvage rewarded by completing missions to unlock and upgrade weaponry and technology at safehouses. During the campaign, the player is equipped with a sledgehammer-like weapon, along with up to 3 other weapons or explosive devices. The player also has the opportunity to control armed vehicles such as tanks and walkers for more destructive options.

The game plays in an open world representing a terraformed area of Mars' surface. The world is divided into six distinct areas and the player must successfully free each area from EDF control before moving onto the next. Should the player wander into as-yet-unfreed areas, they will be attacked by EDF forces. The player can traverse on foot or by hijacking one of the numerous vehicles that travel its surface. Navigation is provided by a mini-map and a GPS indicator which directs the player. In order to liberate any given area the player must complete a variety of missions to reduce the EDF's presence. At the same time, the player can complete various side missions, such as rescuing hostages, destroying buildings and delivering vehicles. Players may also be rewarded with salvage for completing these tasks. Other actions, such as letting civilians die, will lower morale, while actively killing civilians will lower morale faster. Should the player engage EDF forces in an area with high morale, civilians will likely join the fight alongside the player. Once the player has worn down the EDF presence in a sector to zero, a final mission will be available allowing the player to completely secure the sector. Once this has been completed for a sector it will be freely traversable, with little danger of EDF conflict.

Multiplayer

Red Faction: Guerrilla's multiplayer mode uses similar role-playing elements as introduced in Battlefield 2. As the player engages in more matches, they gain experience points that will grant them bonuses; most of which take the form of superficial bonuses such as the option to add more features to character models or altering aspects of their player emblem, and have no impact on the game. Other bonuses grant players access to additional gameplay modes.

The multiplayer modes also use Geomod 2.0 and the same weapons available in the game. An added feature exclusive to the multiplayer mode however, are special backpacks that grant players a unique, temporary power. Such powers include the ability to run faster, fly, burst through walls, or send out a concussion wave. Another additional device in the multiplayer games is the Reconstructor, a weapon-like object that uses nano-technology to rebuild destroyed structures. It is a key device in game modes which require players to attack or defend specific structures. There are six game modes, including typical multiplayer modes such as individual and team Deathmatch and Capture the flag. Other modes focus on attempting to destroy or preventing the destruction of structures. "Siege" for example requires one team to try to destroy buildings controlled by the other as fast as possible. After a set period of time, or once all targets are destroyed, the roles are reversed, and a new round begins. The team that manages to destroy all targets the fastest wins the round.

Along with online multiplayer, there is an offline only "pass the controller" multiplayer game mode for two to four players called "Wrecking Crew". Wrecking Crew features several different modes, all of which are based around causing as much damage by oneself in each round with a set amount of resources (such as ammo, time, or both).

Multiplayer does not support dedicated servers. Games are arranged with the matchmaker, which is fully automated. Match starts automatically after the minimum amount of players have connected and three-quarters of them are ready to start. Players can also make custom matches which have more options. Only invited players may join them.

Synopsis

Red Faction: Guerrilla takes place in the year 2120 [5]. The Earth Defense Force (EDF), the allies in the original "Red Faction", have become the main antagonist of Guerrilla. Although initially supportive of the Martian miners, Earth's natural resources have run scarce, and as a result, its world economy has collapsed from rampant speculation of commodities and lack of production. Under pressure by Earth's corporations and leaders to acquire the resources of Mars at any cost and at a pace to meet Earth's high demand, the EDF has forced Martian society into a permanent state of unfree labour. The newly-reformed "Red Faction" arises to rebel against the EDF, drive them off the planet, and begin fairer negotiations with Earth.

Plot

File:Alecmason.png

Protagonist Alec Mason on the surface of Mars. In the Red Faction series Mars has been terraformed and can sustain life on its surface.

Alec Mason, a mining engineer,[6] arrives on Mars Tharsis Region[7] to reunite with his brother Dan and begin a new life. While on work detail, Dan testifies about the Earth Defense Force's (EDF) cruelty to the Martian people and asks Alec to join the Red Faction, of which Dan is a member. Dan is soon after gunned down by air support from an EDF assault team. Alec is rescued by Red Faction guerrillas and reluctantly becomes a freedom fighter for the group alongside avid inventor "Sam" Samanya, rambling psychotic Jenkins, and commander Hugo Davies. Between Davies' command and Alec's skill and bravery, the EDF are quickly driven out of the sector known as Parker.

The campaign against the EDF continues in the Dust sector, and Alec is eventually assigned to routine surveillance of the Marauders, a mysterious and violent warrior tribe living in the inhospitable Badlands, in hopes of recovering stolen weapons. Alec tracks them to an abandoned Ultor base that promptly comes under massive assault from the EDF. During the fracas, Alec escapes with a device called the Nano Forge. This brings attention to Admiral Kobel, commander of a powerful warship called the Hydra, along with General Roth, commander of the EDF forces on Mars, who declare Alec Mason an outlaw. General Roth turns his attention to Dust and the EDF responds by pulling out of the sector and ordering the artillery base in the Free Fire Zone to bomb Dust into oblivion. Alec is tasked with saving members of the Red Faction and intel on the EDF from the bombardment, which he succeeds in doing.

Alec temporarily loses faith in the movement, citing that no matter how determined their efforts are, the EDF will simply bomb them to submission. However, Sam analyzes the Nano Forge and discovers it can create catastrophic nanites that can disintegrate any object. She builds a prototype rifle from the device and entrusts it to Alec's care.

After determining a series of blind spots in its coverage a successful run against an EDF artillery base commences, allowing the group to begin take the fight to EDF territories. Shortly thereafter the EDF stages an assault against the Red Faction, resulting in the annihilation of the Badlands camp and the death of Davies. Only Sam, Alec and a handful of other fighters survive the assault. They learn afterward that the Hydra is nearing Mars, with the it's command intending to use its firepower to put an end to the Red Faction and, if necessary, all planetary life. Sam declares that they need support from the Marauders if their campaign is to continue. When Alec remains dubious, she reveals that she was a Marauder herself. The pair head to a Marauder stronghold to meet with their ruler, Vasha, Sam's sister. Sam requests the usage of the Marauders' particle accelerator technology, with plans to combine it with the Nano Forge, creating a weapon capable of destroying the Hydra. Vasha agrees to let the Red Faction use their technology in exchange for possession of the Nano Forge once the war is finished.

After capturing a broadcasting station and using it to regroup the Red Faction, Sam and Alec lead the remaining Red Faction and Marauders on a final assault on EDF Central Command. The two groups converge on Mt. Vogel to assemble the machine, however a surprise EDF blitzkrieg led by General Roth wipes out the Marauders guarding the summit end of the accelerator and Vasha along with them. Alec storms the mountain with a modified missile-pod tank, defeating General Roth's army and killing Roth. Sam's plan succeeds and the accelerated Nano Forge is successful in vaporizing the Hydra. As the survivors of Mars celebrate, Sam declares the war over, but Alec respons that the EDF will return, stating "We'll be ready for 'em". Alec and Sam approach the crowds of civilians gathered, and Alec raises his hammer in the air, showing the sign of the Red Faction and their long-waited victory.

Development and marketing

File:Geomod20.png

Geo-Mod 2.0 technology was used in the game to create dynamically destructible buildings and environments

In February 2008, it was announced that the third installment of the Red Faction series was coming to multiple platforms. Few details were released at the time of the games announcement. On July 15, 2008, Rick White, a producer at Volition, debuted a demo at the E3 gaming expo in California (see below). The title was confirmed at the 2008 Game Developers Conference, and in mid-2008, a private multiplayer beta was released on Xbox Live. Among the details revealed at GDC '08 were a new and fully upgraded Geo-mod system, dubbed Geo-Mod 2.0. It was also confirmed that the game would take place in an open world environment.[8]

A live demo of the game debuted at E3 2008, with narration by Volition producer Rick White. Many of the game's features were presented during the demo. These features include: multiplayer, the upgraded Geo-mod system, new weapons, vehicles and a brief plot preview among others. At the 2008 Penny Arcade Expo, a multiplayer demo was shown. The demo showed off the game mode "Team Anarchy", and "Damage Control", as well as some backpacks that the player can equip for certain powers. In mid-2008, Volition opened a private multiplayer beta to Microsoft to see what needed to be fixed or added. Friends and family codes were sent to survey participants on July 30, 2008. Volition confirmed that IGN had distributed up to 25,000 codes to expand the beta further via paid public membership. Public keys for the Xbox 360 version were released through Fileplanet. On August 25, 2008, Volition's Community Manager, J Goldberg (V-Singular) announced on the official Red Faction community forums that he was giving away the last few remaining beta keys in his possession. On August 26, 2008, the last Red Faction: Guerrilla Xbox 360 Beta activation key was given away.[citation needed] The Red Faction: Guerrilla Beta on Xbox Live came to an end on August 29 at 3AM EST.[9]

In February 2008, preview screenshots of Liran were leaked to the Internet, causing members at various game forums to come to consider one weapon shown to be an "Ostrich Hammer" based on its shape. Over one year later, on April Fools Day 2009, Volition released a video commenting on the forum posts, and jokingly implied that the Ostrich Hammer would be a weapon in the game.[10] However, due to the positive response to that video, Volition has announced that there will really be an Ostrich Hammer weapon present in the game.[11][12]

On April 23, a single player demo was released on both the Xbox Live Marketplace and the Playstation Network. A multiplayer demo was released on May 21 on both platforms Xbox Live Marketplace and the Playstation Network.The multiplayer demo was removed from the Playstation Network soon after it was made available due to problems connecting to games. The multiplayer demo was never re-released, and at the time of its removal, there was no official communication from Sony or THQ to let consumers know that it was removed, only comments about the demo's non-functionality.

On September 10 of 2008, a Red Faction: Guerrilla Collector's Edition was announced.[13] The collectors edition would have included a 20-inch-tall (510 mm), 7-inch-wide (180 mm), hand painted Walker with pewter handrails [14], a game art book, and a DVD (Xbox 360 version)/Blu-ray disc (PS3 version). The Collector's Edition was never released, but various elements that were slated to be included in the Collector's Edition were made available as preorder bonuses from specific stores.[15]

A Red Faction: Guerrilla handbook was released by THQ alongside the game's release.[16] A comic strip made by DC Comics contained within the book featured a prologue to Red Faction: Guerrilla, detailing how Dan Mason came to be a Red Faction member (his uncle, Ray Mason, fought alongside Parker in the original Red Faction). The comic also follows a mission involving Dan, Samanya and various other Red Faction members, who are fighting against the EDF and encounter a small, orphaned boy who joins the Red Faction, only to later betray them.

Downloadable content

It was announced on June 30, 2009 that Red Faction: Guerilla would have three downloadable expansion packs.[17] The first part of these is "Demons Of The Badlands" which is set in a new area named Mariner Valley. It contains new demolition missions, 8 new weapons (including the sledge hammer from the game cover) and 3 new vehicles (1 of the vehicles is a heavy "walker" with flails connected in the hands). The story focuses on Sam's past, and was released on August 13, 2009. It also has 10 new achievements and trophies (for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions, respectively).[18] The expansion was bundled with the Windows version of the game.

The second content package, simply called the "Multiplayer Pack", was released on September 17, 2009 and focused solely on the online multiplayer game modes. The pack added two new game modes, Bagman and Team Bagman, based on the game mode from Red Faction 2, where the objective is to hold the bag as long as possible, while getting extra points for killing enemies when it is held, and 8 new maps meant for the new game mode, but can be played with any custom match game mode except siege. The new maps are restricted to only the Bagman and Team Bagman modes when playing in online matchmaking.[19]

The third and final planned DLC pack, called the "Smasher Pack", focused on the Wrecking Crew modes. It added eight new maps which can be used in any previously existing Wrecking Crew mode. It also added a new Wrecking Crew game mode that requires players to utilize the walker vehicles to cause as much destruction as possible. This is intended to be the last DLC pack for the game.[19]

Reception

 Reception

Reception for Red Faction: Guerilla has been mostly positive; the Metacritic score for both the Xbox 360 and the Playstation 3 are 85 out of 100.[20][21] On July 28, 2009 at the Q1 earnings conference call THQ boss Brian Farrell confirmed, that Red Faction: Guerrilla has now sold more than 1 million units.[26][27][28]

The game received frequent criticism for its "weak story".[22][23][29] GameSpot reviewer Randolph Ramsey praised the physics and realism of the game but also criticized its repetitiveness and plotline.[23] GameTrailers criticized the game's pace, environment, and difficulty particularly in the later missions: "you'll be lucky to get out of the most heated battles alive. Often to its detriment, Guerrilla imparts the desperate feeling of being one man struggling to rip apart an army at its foundations. ... Maybe the point was to make you feel like a fragile, puny man staring Goliath in the maw. In any case, don't feel ashamed if you have to tune the difficulty down for a particularly brutal mission."[29] IGN reviewer Charles Onyett rated the game an 8 out of 10, citing the fun gameplay, but saying that the storyline, graphics, and voice acting were weak.[24] 1UP.com reviewer Justin Haywald graded it an A- noting the weak storyline but lauding the "degree to which you can destroy environments."[22]

References

  1. Reactor Zero homepage. Retrieved on 2009-04-29
  2. Red Faction: Guerrilla Beta Close Forum. Red Faction Underground (2008-08-27). Retrieved on 2008-09-01
  3. RFG PC Release Date + Specs. THQ (2009-07-13). Retrieved on 2009-07-17
  4. Orry, Tom (2009-04-14). Red Faction: Guerrilla Interview. VideoGamer.com. Retrieved on 2009-11-05
  5. Loading screen picture
  6. Red Faction Guerilla Review. Gamezone. Retrieved on 2009-06-22
  7. Red Faction: Guerrilla Developer Diary With Drew Holmes #1. Gamespot (2009-04-17). Retrieved on 2010-01-19
  8. Goldstein, Maarten (2008-02-20). Red Faction: Guerrilla Announcement. Shacknews. Retrieved on 2008-03-16
  9. Suttner, Nick (2008-08-27). Red Faction: Guerrilla 1up Preview. 1UP.com. Retrieved on 2008-08-27
  10. NeoGAF: First images of Red Faction 3: Guerrilla (2009-04-10). Retrieved on 2009-04-10
  11. Faylor, Chris (2009-04-03). Red Faction: Guerrilla April Fools' Was No Joke, 'Ostrich Hammer' Weapon Actually Real. Shacknews. Retrieved on 2009-04-03
  12. Developer Diary - New Sledgehammer. Volition (2009-04-01). Retrieved on 2009-04-03
  13. Red Faction: Guerrilla Collectors Edition. Kotaku (2008-09-10). Retrieved on 2008-09-10
  14. Red Faction: Guerrilla Heavy Walker figure free with pre-order (UK); US pre-order goods. N4G.com (2009-05-16). Retrieved on 2010-01-20
  15. IGN: Red Faction: Guerrilla (Collector's Edition) (Red Faction: Guerrilla CE). IGN. Retrieved on 2009-06-29
  16. Wildstorm RED FACTION GUERRILLA # 1 2009 PROMO Comic Con SDCC Exclusive. www.ecrater.com. Retrieved on 2009-11-10
  17. Faylor, Chris (2009-07-30). Red Faction: Guerrilla Getting Three DLC Packs. Shacknews. Retrieved on 2009-11-10
  18. Red Faction: Guerrilla - Demons of the Badlands. Eurogamer (2009-07-15). Retrieved on 2009-11-10
  19. 19.0 19.1 Xbox Live Marketplace - Red Faction: Guerrilla. Xbox.com. Retrieved on 2009-11-09
  20. 20.0 20.1 Red Faction: Guerrilla (PS3). Metacritic. Retrieved on 2009-11-10
  21. 21.0 21.1 Red Faction: Guerrilla (Xbox 360). Metacritic. Retrieved on 2009-11-10
  22. 22.0 22.1 22.2 Haywald, Justin (2009-06-09). Red Faction: Guerrilla Review. 1UP.com. Retrieved on 2009-09-13
  23. 23.0 23.1 23.2 Ramsay, Randolph (2009-06-04). Red Faction: Guerrilla Review. GameSpot. Retrieved on 2009-09-13
  24. 24.0 24.1 Onyett, Charles (2009-05-28). Red Faction: Geurrilla Review. IGN. Retrieved on 2009-09-13
  25. Taylor, Taylor (2009-06-09). Red Faction: Geurrilla Review. G4. Retrieved on 2009-011-28
  26. Garratt, Patrick (2009-07-28). Red Faction: Guerrilla passes 1 million units sold. www.vg247.com. Retrieved on 2009-07-29
  27. Jube (2009-07-29). Red Faction: Guerrilla Does A Million. Voodoo Extreme 3D. Retrieved on 2009-07-29
  28. Reilly, Jim (2009-07-28). THQ Sees Record Quarterly Results. IGN. Retrieved on 2009-07-28
  29. 29.0 29.1 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named gt

External links

fr:Red Faction: Guerrilla nl:Red Faction: Guerrilla simple:Red Faction: Guerrilla

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